Two new cases of norovirus were discovered over the weekend at the Comox Valley Seniors Village, just as management was hoping things were settling down. So far 32 residents have been confirmed sick with the gastro-intestinal illness and close to 20 staff have shown at least some symptoms.

“This is the season unfortunately,” said Rowena Rizzotti, vp operations at Vancouver-based Retirement Concepts, the parent company of the Comox Valley facility. “We're feeling pretty confident we're seeing the end of it.”

When Ross Armstrong’s 85-year-old mother opens her door after 9 p.m., he’s alerted via text message. He’s also notified when she’s been out of bed for a long period of time at night; there could have been a fall.

Armstrong’s mother has Alzheimer’s disease and problems with her short-term memory. She can’t recall things that happened as recently as five minutes ago. His mother lives alone in her home in Victoria, B.C., so with her permission, Armstrong installed cameras and motion sensors a few months ago to monitor her.

Falls are the number one fatal injury for seniors and researchers at St. Pauls hospital are using a new high-tech device to help keep aging patients on their feet. Today’s News Hour on Global BC Health Headlines brought to you by Pharmasave.

Practising some simple exercises at home each day for the last six weeks has freed 82-year-old Florence Regehr from the confines of her home. “I know what they mean when elders talk about not wanting to go out, becoming fearful,” she explained this week at the Elder Care Clinic at St. Paul’s Hospital in downtown Vancouver. “They stay within their apartments. They lose independence.”

I am writing to commend the Psychiatrist on-call whose compassion and extraordinary empathy helped to relieve my
extreme anxiety on that day.Please extend my heartfelt thanks to her for going above and beyond simply “taking a history”.”